That whole making something reference move to circulating thing

As we approach the one year anniversary of our migration to Polaris, I thought that it might be a good idea to refresh/remind/nag everyone about what to do when you receive the updated edition of a reference book or find something that is no longer useful to you as reference. Please feel free to share this with your staff.

When we migrated to Polaris there were some significant changes and one of those changes was the use of REF as a prefix in call numbers. Although the catalog reflects this, the spine labels were not retrospectively changed and only items added since March 2011 have this type of spine label. And since this is a call number, it can only be edited by Catalog Services staff. The movement of materials from Reference to circulating still happens, but it will require some consultation with the RSC and approval by Terry. The second step is a consultation with the Collection Development Librarians since they often purchase these items for the circulating collection and have a better sense of what is needed in circulation.

Our policy about not circulating our reference collection has not changed.

What does this mean for community libraries?

When you receive a new edition and want to circulate the old edition it has to be sent to SRV Review. Ditto for anything that you feel is no longer needed in reference.

Please put a note on the item that you’d like to circulate and I’ll make sure that the CD Librarians see it. No guarantee that they’ll put it in circ or send it to your library.

In the case of large sets, such as World Book Encyclopedia, we will do our best to avoid physically shuffling 26 volumes to and fro. We will try to make those changes remotely. I’ll try to send out an email as soon as the new editions arrive.

Because there are several points in the catalog record that must be changed by the Catalog Services staff, it cannot be done by community library staff. Please do not override when you see that message that says the item is designated non-circulating in order to circulate the item.

As always, if you have any questions, comments, brilliant ideas, or concerns, feel free to contact me.